Clap Hands for The Media Man4 Out of 5 Stars
After the fluke success of "Hey Saint Peter" made Flash and The Pan's first album into an international hit, this side project from Harry Vanda and George Young had to contend with a follow-up. Vanda and Young, best known as the core of 60's hit makers The Easybeats and producers to AC/DC (George Young is family to Malcom and Angus), were already no strangers to hit song-writing. The result was "Media Man" charting in several countries, and the album expanding on the band's cult audience.
The formula remained pretty much the same. Heavy new wave synths paired to either dance-beats or down tempo gloominess, along with monotone, processed vocals. This doesn't click quite as often as it does on the debut album, and there's nothing here as memorable as "Hey St Peter" or "The Band Played On/Down Among The Dead Men." But more than half the album clicks, with "Media Man" being the dance-hit and the title track being the best of the bummers. It's also worth pointing out that, despite the minimalist trappings, these guys were pretty incredible musicians. Give a listen to the piano solo on "Welcome To The Universe" for proof on that one.
They also had an odd sense of humor. The original album cover was the artwork of the debut covered with black ink and a scratching to reveal the art underneath. A sticker on the album gave the band name and title, along with an illustration of a child watching a dice rolling bye him as his eyes open wider. The dice has three hands, and in American Sign language, the dice is spelling out UFO. If you held the cover up to a bright light, the blacked-over cover below becomes clearly visible. It's that kind of full creativity from bands that I sometimes miss in the post LP era.
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